


Spice

by seraphienus



Series: Sprigs and Blossoms [1]
Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 19:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3867601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphienus/pseuds/seraphienus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Getting to know Joseph Oda was never easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spice

**Author's Note:**

> Illustrations may be updated later. Serial perhaps?

Getting to know Joseph didn’t come easy. It took lots of trials and errors, bumping into walls and feeling guilty about things that you normally won’t. Sebastian knew that Joseph was the typical no-nonsense kind, so he wasn’t very enthusiastic when they first introduced to each other. But as time went by, there’s more than it meets the eye. No matter how perfect Joseph appears to be, deep down he’s but human only too.

Where can Sebastian even begin with all this? Let’s talk about the first time Joseph had Mexican.

Night duty patrol was never really part of their job as detectives but whenever KCPD was severely shorthanded, it was the unwritten rule that everyone, no matter the salutation given, had to be part of the most mundane necessity in the force. In this case, night duty patrol it seemed. Not just any night patrol, specifically midnight patrol it appears. Uncommitted, single and unanimously labelled bachelors of the force, Sebastian and his partner, Joseph, were told to stay behind to walk the streets since two uniforms called out last minute. Family matters they called in, and the heads wanted to appear understanding.

“Well, looks like it’s just you and me tonight, Joseph.” Sebastian stretched his arms as he walked towards the patrol car. A chilly breeze ran past his collars and he pulled his trench coat closer to himself.

Stern and stoic as always, Joseph straightened his grey fleece coat and tightened the belt. The material hugged his lean body warmly, kept him comfortable. “It’ll be alright. Just another safe night in Krimson City.”

The hispanic male sighed, “I’m not worried about that. But you’re right. Let’s go then.”

And so he stepped into the driver’s seat, waiting for Joseph to buckle his seat belt by his side before he drove out to the street.

Their territory in surveillance basically roamed around Beacon Mental Hospital and the few streets in its perimeter. Particular to the fact that they were patrolling around an asylum, Sebastian would’ve insisted that there was nothing to be worried about. How many petty robbery or burglary would trivial itself in the presence of mad people and lunatics? The risk of bumping into them would significantly endanger their activity, asking for more trouble than they needed to be in. But records told Sebastian that if there's anyone he wants to have an argument with, that person is not Joseph Oda. Joseph takes no chances at risks, and would do anything to reduce it effectively. Even if his actions become ineffective.

So they roamed about the 57th, 61st street, watching a few dimly lit streetlights some homeless called home to. Sebastian sighed at the pitiful sight, but Joseph remained nonchalant through it all. He took a curt left and they cruised alongside Beacon Mental Hospital. The old heavy gates had always set him uneasy and the dimness of the night only made it far worse than he recalled it to be. Although spending money to doll up the building would be a big waste, for some unfathomable reason Sebastian didn't see himself contest to that petition should someone bring it up.

“This hospital…” Sebastian muttered, not realizing he had slowed the car significantly.

Joseph leaned to his left a little to get a clearer view of the hospital through the window on the driver’s side, not understanding what Sebastian’s concern with it was, “Yes, Beacon Mental Hospital. Is there something wrong with it?”

Not wanting to draw unnecessary feedback, Sebastian shook his head and stepped up the speed, “It’s nothing.”

It’s been a three-hour drive into the night and it seemed like a decent time to start to feel the tiredness hit him mercilessly. The local radio had said it good nights and faded itself into an endless repetition of slow music which wasn't helping the case either. Soft static from police channel had been buzzing all night without call-ins or new cases. Like Joseph said, another safe night in Krimson City so it seemed. But the safe night wasn't going to guarantee Sebastian staying awake through his job so he sought for distraction. And what better timing for his stomach to growl for some needed attention?

“Say, you hungry?” Sebastian asked mindlessly. Because whether Joseph said yes or no, he was determined to get his fill. Not to mention Joseph never steers away from his line of work for any reason.

This night, surprisingly however, Joseph looked down at himself for a bit before he murmured a soft whisper, “… a little, I suppose.”

For some weird reason Sebastian found himself smiled at that little confession too, “Well then let’s get something to eat. It’s going to be a long night after all.”

“We shouldn't stray from our patrol zone though, Sebastian.”

There he goes again, the Hispanic male told himself, “Relax. It’s only a five minute drive away from 64th. I’m sure crime can wait for us.”

Before Joseph could tell him off for that absentminded behavior, he cut right onto 64th leaving the younger detective no choice but to follow suit.

But sure enough, it took no more than five minutes before they stopped by a Mexican food truck that was about to close for the night. Obviously Joseph caught sight of that and so he wanted to stop Sebastian before he might use his authority to get some food his way. That however was interrupted as Sebastian had already stepped out of the car, heading for the truck window.

 _“Eh papi!”_ A mouthful of Spanish came out and an older Hispanic male appeared by the window who seemed exceptionally happy to see Sebastian. Joseph slowly walked to the food truck as well and waited for the foreign conversation to die on its own. After some short bantering, Sebastian finally took notice of him and asked him what he wanted.

“He’s all out of _elotes_ and _fajitas_. Are you okay with some _tacos_?”

Joseph had no clue about Mexican foods but he didn't want Sebastian to know that. Whether he grew tired of the stereotypical attitudes people had towards his ethnicity or that he had some pride issues, he just didn't want to hear any unnecessary comments from Sebastian just because he knew nothing about Mexican food. No, it wasn't because he wasn't getting out enough. He would hate to hear that one. So, he might as well wing it.

“Yeah,” he spoke calmly, “That’s fine with me.”

“Great,” Sebastian smiled, almost too genuine in Joseph’s mind, “His tacos could bring any man to his knees.”

What had Joseph not realized was the subsequent conversation between papi and Sebastian could’ve turned his sweet endeavor into a nightmarish one in an instance. There was something about jalapeños which Joseph couldn't fathom what it was but had been too stupid to not care about it. _It’s just food right_ , he reminded himself, what could possibly go wrong?

As soon as Sebastian paid for the food, he ushered Joseph quickly back to the car before he handed the warm beef taco to Joseph.

This thing was opened up on the sides, sitting on a paper boat that can barely contain it. Not to mention there was some liquids flowing out the open sides and pungent green-chili-looking vegetable on it that made Joseph’s stomach churn unwillingly. This smelled hot, like insanely hot. But looking at his partner, the Hispanic male sure made quick work of his taco. Joseph didn't even had the chance to watch how he began and only saw him finish the remaining half with the paper boat held closely to his mouth. Not wanting to look like a complete amateur, he did as what he observed, holding his breath to stop from choking on the tangy-smelling dangerous green stuff.

He was only but an inch away from putting one side of the open end into his mouth when the stuffing slipped through the soft flour shell and into the paper boat. But unfortunately not all made it into the pathetic excuse of a plate. Some of the spicy juices dripped along the exterior side of the boat and dripped onto his crispy white shirt, right next to his beautiful red tie which would've been a better choice to stain onto, honestly. Joseph grunted aloud, earning Sebastian’s full attention who saw his partner angrily holding the paper plate housing the taco with one hand, the other fussing with the speckle of red spot on his shirt.

“You okay?” Sebastian asked carefully. He’s never seen Joseph this irritated before to be frank.

Joseph sighed, “It’s… fine.” He kept himself collected before he continued, “Just… missed the sauce.”

And only God knows where the next idea came from in Sebastian’s head. Perhaps from past experiences he had, he told Joseph to give him a moment as he quickly stepped out of the car again, running towards the food truck which had just diminished the neon ‘OPEN’ sign. It didn't take his partner long at all before he returned with a wet serviette, smelling of strong lime. “Lime juice can clear up oil stains.”

Even though that was completely unheard of to Joseph, he decided to let Sebastian try it nonetheless. They leaned close to each other, Sebastian carefully pulling the shirt out of its prim state so he had access to rub the lime juice over the fabric. But he looked terribly awkward in the position he was in so Joseph loosened his tie, removing it from his collar so his partner had a better look at it. In all his gruff logic, Sebastian rubbed the serviette hard against the fabric, watching little bits of the paper stuck onto Joseph’s cotton shirt. Well if it stained hard, it would take more effort to remove it wouldn't it?

Joseph tried not to move. In fact, he held his breath when he felt the slight brush of Sebastian’s slicked back hair touched his jaw. He didn't understand why but it made his heart stop momentarily when he realized how close Sebastian was to him. It felt awkward no doubt, but it wasn't all awkwardness. All he knew was he got annoyed by the oil stain and Sebastian was just trying to help. But surely Sebastian could have given him the serviette to do it by himself… right?

Nonetheless, lime juice did its magic. The stain went away all right, but what was left behind was a bigger mild stain of the lime juice coated around the area. One look and Sebastian knew Joseph was going to be upset. He wasn’t wrong about that. Under the mercy of Sebastian’s helpful efforts, Joseph pulled his now-slightly-crumpled shirt straight and sighed. He knew his partner was just trying to help and technically he did remove what he meant to so there really was no reason to be annoyed anymore. Still, he was feeling irritated somehow. He then brushed the remnants of the tissue bits of his shirt and put his tie back on.

“Hey Jo—”

“It’s alright.” Joseph spoke softly as he reached for the taco above the glove compartment, “Thanks anyway, Seb.”

And without a second thought, he took a big bite of the taco and mentally cussed in his mind with infinite regrets.

* * *

“Anyone seen Joseph?”

It’s already noon and Sebastian hadn't seen his partner all morning. They clocked out at three in the morning and had ample time to head home to rest up before work. Although he came in late at ten, he was was even more surprised that Joseph was still nowhere in sight after two hours. Some of the other detectives and officers were already ready to head out to lunch where the admin officer overheard his concern then.

“Didn't you hear? Joseph called in sick.”

That simple statement was enough to send a sudden surge of worry through Sebastian. “What? Did he say why?”

“Not really,” the lady said, “I thought he was with you on the duty roster last night. Something happened?”

“No?” The Hispanic male grew more concerned, “The night went by rather peacefully.”

“Did you guys do anything at all?”

Sebastian thought hard about something they could have done out of the blue and the only thing that stood out prominent was, “The only thing we did was had late night tacos for supper.”

The admin officer’s eyes grew wide for a second and chuckled to herself immediately. Sebastian pursued on.

“Geez, Sebastian. You didn't know Joseph can’t handle spicy foods?”

 _Oh crap,_ Sebastian thought to him. “He can’t?”

“Well he ain't Canadian-Japanese for nothing you know. We've never seen him eat any spicy stuff before when he used to be uniformed. He probably felt unwell from the food you made him take yesterday. But he’ll live.” She then walked past Sebastian to her waiting coworkers before they left for lunch.

Once she was out of sight, Sebastian immediately knew what he had to do.

* * *

Joseph woke up feeling much better. It was past one and he was glad he had called out of work even though he didn't want to initially.

When he got back home from work, he had the bathroom rush and it was the most unpleasant feeling he’s had in years. He’s usually very careful with what he eats but he let it slip up with Sebastian last night. He couldn't say he didn't regret that. But at the same time, he was glad he got to see the more caring side of Sebastian which seldom shone through. Sebastian had always been labelled the tactless cop after all, so it was nice… to see something different.

But then he felt a sharp growl from his empty stomach and decided that lunch was more important at this point. So he went to the bathroom to wash up, but mostly it was to pull his bed hair down temporarily at least. Back to his dresser, he looked for something casual to wear across street when his doorbell rang. He didn't remember him expecting any parcel or guest coming in at this hour. Despite being skeptical, he got to the door and open it. nonetheless

And holy.

“Hey, you feeling better?”

There awkwardly standing, one Sebastian Castellanos holding a bag of medicine from the nearest pharmacy on the left and a paper bag smelling of food on the right.

“S-Sebastian? What are you doing here?” Joseph looked puzzled at his partner who appeared to be dressed for work, but standing in front of his door.

“Uh, can I come in?”

Realizing how awkward it must've been for him to be standing outside the corridor alone, Joseph quickly moved aside and showed Sebastian the way in, “Oh sorry! Come on in.”

Once in, Sebastian instinctively moved towards the kitchen counter in sight to drop his stuff. He opened the bag of medicine and started dishing everything in there out which basically summed up to a big pile of pain meds for the stomach. He even got pepto-bismol just to be on the safe side. Joseph was surprised at the amount of stuff flooding his counter all of a sudden but Sebastian wasn't done yet. He then pulled out takeaway containers filled with warm creamy soup from the other paper bag and a couple of sandwiches as well to go along with it. Just the thing Joseph need, though he wondered what was with all this from his partner.

“What’s… going on?” Joseph asked concernedly.

“I uh,” Sebastian started slowly, “Well I didn't know you couldn't handle spice. So when I heard you called in sick… well yeah, figured I should drop by and see how you’re doing.”

Joseph didn't know why he observed every little detail carefully when his partner spoke. The way Sebastian scratched the back of his head; how his eyes batted away from him looking at the things he bought on the table; the slight quiver of his lips as though he was telling himself how dumb he was. Everything met together perfectly in an unspeakable adorable way. Here’s this grown man, going out of his way to be thoughtful of him because he felt guilty for apparently nothing he did to him. Because Joseph knew he was the one who was stubborn to not admit that he knew nothing about Mexican.

“You know it’s not your fault, Seb,” Joseph admitted shyly. “I was the one who didn't tell you anything.”

Maybe some part of Sebastian already knew that it was in Joseph’s genes to tough it out as the only non-American in the office, but if any, he did wish that he could make his partner a little more comfortable being himself around him. Or at least try to. Maybe that’s why he’s going these lengths to help him feel more ease it around him, perhaps?

“Well,” Sebastian gave a small smile, “You can try telling me next time then, Jo.”

And the smallest touch to that nickname made Joseph’s heart skipped a beat so much that he couldn't stop looking at Sebastian, wondering if time could just stop in this moment. If only, if only he knew why he felt this way.

Whereas Sebastian was just curious why Joseph stayed silent looking at him, almost as though in deep thought but not exactly that either. He pondered his actions too actually, why the compelling need to make sure Joseph was alright. He didn't feel guilt pushing him to do these things. It was something else driving, an unspeakable need.

“So uh… ready to eat something more to your touch then?”

Joseph stared at Sebastian, embarrassed and shaken out of his little trance. “Oh uh, yeah sure. I’m famished actually.”

Each grabbing a seat respectively, both detectives took their time to their meal by the kitchen counter. The creamy soup did make his stomach feel a lot better than he thought possible, Joseph didn't think he’d like pesto more than he already did. Sebastian just quietly sank into his meal, eyes seemingly averting Joseph a little too obvious. Joseph would prefer to diffuse this tension if possible.

“So those tacos… they sure bring a man to their knees. A different kind of kneeling in my case, I guess.” He chuckled a little at the end of his pathetic first encounter with Mexican, hopefully it’ll start a casual conversation.

Sebastian chuckled at that too, though still feeling bad and hence offered to salvage the situation, “Maybe the next time you can take me to Japanese and watch me suffer at it too.”

“I don’t know too much about Japanese actually but you know what, it’s a deal, Seb.”

Sebastian nodded playfully, “I’m counting on it, Jo.”

And he began to understand that Joseph Oda wasn’t that hard of a nut to crack after all.


End file.
